I’ve been so terrible at posting lately ( groundbreaking news: parenting two tiny people and working full time is time consuming).
The babes are great and just so sweet with one another. They really are such buddies. Here’s a funny video from dinner the other night and a couple cute pictures.
As I’m sure you’ve gathered, things have been a bit busy and keeping up with my blog hasn’t been as easy as I’d like. Between being swamped at work and juggling children and housework and life and everything at home, there just hasn’t been much time. I hope to play catch up soon.
Anyway, things in our world are really good. We have these amazing children. I mean, I literally can’t even. Charlotte has become such a little girl. Oh gosh is she sweet. I mean, she’s spicy as hell, too… but she’s so sweet. She loves hard. She’s SO amazing with Henry. The other day, she was watching “Lost in Oz” (super cute show) while I was making dinner. Henry was just outside of the kitchen in his bouncy seat. All of a sudden, without saying a word or even looking at me, she gets up, runs over to Henry and gives him a huge hug and kiss and then runs back to the couch and continues watching (all without any acknowledgement from me). It was just the most beautiful, genuine moment. It gives me flutters just thinking about it. What an incredible love this small child has for her brother and such love and admiration he has for his sister. Makes a momma proud.
Henry continues to be the sweetest little man there ever was. Like, legit, sweetest dude ever. His personality continues to evolve and he’s just an incredible, relaxed, loving, happy man. He LOVES to laugh. He watches Charlie with a laugh just waiting to come out as soon as she does anything. He gives these hugs and snuggles that just make my world brighter. He loves to dance and sing with mommy and loves to play. He’s also a total destructor. He’ll break the shit outta anything. Seriously though. Papers on the desk? Not anymore. Glasses on your face? Gotta go! You get the picture. Senor Destructor.
Last night H & C were eating dinner… Charlie in the high chair, Henry in the booster seat. Henry reached his hand out to Charlie and they just held hands, smiling at each other. MELT, MELT, MELT.
Through all the good, I will say, it’s been hard. It’s strange to say that because it’s literally so good. I’m SO happy, but it’s hard. With Charlotte, I felt like there was no real change in Mark and I. I mean, obviously we were different, but it didn’t feel hard on our relationship. And honestly, maybe I just don’t remember. But these first 8 months, while amazing and wonderful and great, they have also been hard. On each of us and on both of us. I feel like we are both working hard to get acclimated in this new chaotic world of extreme multi-tasking. Some days we totally win. We’re so good, pros. And some days, our exhaustion and overwhelmed feelings take over and one or both of us snaps a bit.
As with any huge life change, it takes adjustment.
I remember my sister telling me that the first year after her youngest was born was the hardest on her marriage and life and I totally get that. The change from 1 to 2 kids is significant. It’s a change that has catapulted my life to such incredible levels of happiness and love, but oh man is it significant.
I’m not sure if it’s some level of postpartum or the fact that this world gets scarier every day, but some days I literally have anxiety coming out of my eyeballs. That’s probably been the most difficult thing for me. I’ve always been a bit anxious, but oofta… it’s reached new levels. With so much love and such gifts in my life, there is just so much to lose, so much vulnerability. Those fears sometimes get the best of me. I’ve been opening up about these things lately and I feel like that’s helping me to let go a bit.
I feel like that’s way more Debbie Downer than I’m currently feeling (I’m actually in an overwhelmingly happy and grateful mood today), but I wanted to get it down in writing. I can feel that we’re totally on our way up, that I’m starting to gain back control of my crazy mind. Our winning days far outweigh our losing days. So, before I totally forget to document the groundbreaking fact that having kids is hard, here it is.
Can I just say that the past 6 months have literally been the fastest of my life? I mean, it feels like I have known Henry my whole life and that he’s been in our world forever, but at the same time, I literally cannot believe that it’s already been half of a year! Mind blowing.
***
Even more mindblowing? Another month has passed since I wrote the above statement. Shit, I’m so behind and life is just flying by. Henry is SEVEN months old… practically in college.
Weight: Per his 6-month check up (which occurred at 6 months and 2.5 weeks), he’s 21 lbs and either 5 or 8 ounces! I can’t remember. 95th percentile for our tiny giant!
Height: Big man Henry is 28.25″… WOWZA! I’m 60″… just think about that. 91st percentile for height.
Health Updates: Henry still has constant boogs. I think he keeps them there so I can pick them out. He’s giving like that. Otherwise, he’s been nice and healthy (knock on wood). I’m sure it’s helped that Charlotte hasn’t been in school for over a month now. We’ve been pretty germ-free.
Sleep: Henry continues to be amazing in the sleep department. He had a week or so where he decided he wanted to wake up an hour after he went to sleep. At first, we went in nightly and gave him hugs and smooches and then we realized he was hustling us. Or really that he was just getting into a totally unnecessary routine. We did cry it out and voila! Back to normal. The first night he cried for an hour, then for 15 minutes, and by night 3 it was maybe a couple of minutes.
Henry’s routine is a little different these days. He’s been eating solids at dinnertime with the family. Then, we get him in his jammies/sleep sack and start feeding him his bottle in Charlie’s room while we read two stories. After stories, Mark takes him to his room to finish his bottle and go to bed. He’s typically done with his 8.5-9oz bottle and in bed by 6:30 or 7 at the latest. Typically, he sleeps until around 7/730.
In terms of his schedule, most commonly, it looks like this:
7/730: Wake up (we will usually either give him a bottle or I’ll nurse him)
830/9: He typically naps for an hour (sometimes 2 hours if he’s at home)
11/1130: Nap
2:30/3:30: Nap
5:30: Dinner
6:30: Bed
Clothes/Diapers (Sizes): Henry is a tank. He’s pretty solidly in 12-month clothes. 9 fits him most of the time, but 12 month clothes are ideal. Diapers, he’s in a 5… same size as his sister. I do squeeze his tiny butt in size 4’s, but always regret it as I’m cleaning baby shit off of his back and thighs.
Diet: Sir Henry takes down boatloads of milk daily and is also eating 1-2 solid meals a day. I’ve been SO much less calculated with solids for Henry than I was for Charlotte. Here’s what he’s tried so far:
That might be all…
Teeth: Henry has two tiny chompers on the bottom and seems to be working on the top. Who knows. Like I’ve said before, he seems to be in a constant state of teething.
Baby Gear Love: Henry’s best friend (besides Charlie) is his reindeer Rodolfo. Other faves: Comotomo Teether (this thing is cheap and awesome!!), Nuby Teether (Nana got something like this for Henry and he absolutely loves it), Edushape Sensory Balls (When Charlie actually lets him play with his balls from Grandpa, he really enjoys them. Perfect for gnawing and reaching and bouncing around). He also still loves his play mat and his exersaucer. Oh! And his Fisher Price car thing.
Milestones/Firsts: Henry is legit rolling from back to belly and all over the place. He also does assisted standing (and bouncing). He’s working on sitting up by himself, but still calls over pretty consistently.
Crap, I don’t know! All the time blends together, but he’s amazing and wonderful! That’s not new though…
Likes: Henry is still my little guy and I seem to continue as the apple of my little man’s eyes. He also loves the “laughing game” as Charlie calls it. This entails Charlie laughing or being goofy and Henry cracking up. They’re definitely little buddies. It’s perfectly sweet and I love it. My little loves.
Henry loves to eat. He makes little happy food grunts and hungry grunts when he wants more.
Henry LOVES to hug, but equally loves to attempt to rip off faces/hair. He enjoys splashing and rolling around.
Dislikes: Being put down when he wants to play. Being overtired…
Hmmm… I don’t know. He’s so dang happy. He’s a lover of life.
Things I Don’t Want to Forget: Henry is my little man. It absolutely blows my mind how sweet he is. He gets the biggest smiles when he sees his momma. And he gives me the best and biggest hugs. I love just laying around with him and don’t want to forget those moments. When I tickle his little belly, when he grabs onto my face and laughs. All of it.
His relationship with Charlie is also just magical. The way he looks are her… it’s just so sweet. He has sparkle eyes and he gives them to her often. He just waits – with a smile from ear to ear – for her to say something that sends him roaring. Despite the fact that she constantly steals his toys, rolls him over, and bosses him around, he absolutely adores her.
The other day, I was thinking about how crazy the past 7 months have been. I’ve found 2 children to be much more challenging than 1. There’s like 5 times the amount of things to do at all moments and there are so many moments where if you stopped me in my tracks and asked me what I was doing at that exact moment, I’d list 6 things off. BUT, despite it all, it’s all so incredibly fulfilling and magical and perfect and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I have so many moments that I want to just bottle up and keep preserved forever… sitting in Charlie’s bed with Mark, Charlie & Henry, reading stories… Charlie explaining the story to Henry and showing him the book, letting him hold it… Sitting at the dinner table, watching both kids laugh hysterically, as Mark and I laugh and love. Everything. It’s just been so incredibly rewarding and perfect. My heart is full.
It’s officially been over a month since Charlotte’s accident and since her last day at her old school. Without going into too much detail, after C’s accident (which happened at school), we decided we did not feel comfortable sending her back there.
Once the initial few weeks of recovery were behind us, we embarked on a stressful, time consuming, frustrating and stressful, stressful, STRESSFUL task of finding a new school for our girl. In total, I visited 5 schools and contacted SO. MANY. OTHERS.
I ran into so many challenges. Great teachers, but a TINY classroom. Crazy teachers and CRAZIER tuition. Great school, but she would have to get on a bus daily or weekly beginning next year. ETC, ETC, ETC.
I started to really stress that I’d end up having to “settle” on a school that I didn’t love. Knowing that my baby just shattered her elbow (and broke the bone all the way through) at a school that we loved, I was kind of freaking thinking about the things that could happen at a school I didn’t love.
Anyway, apparently, the 5th visit was the charm. I visited a local Montessori school and literally, from the moment I arrived, I had great feelings about it. The kids were happily playing, but there was such order and control in the classroom. The teachers were calm and loving, but assertive. I stayed for an hour and watched as they transitioned from “free play” to snack time to indoor gym (it was a brisk 2 degrees outside that day, so no outdoor time). The kids operated with such independence. It was most definitely their school. They sat and chatted with friends politely as they waited for snack. It was just so calm in there. I LOVED it. For gym, the kids got to run around and get some energy out, but again, not in a way that was out of control.
So, fast-forward. Charlotte is enrolled and TODAY was her first day. On Tuesday, I ordered C a new lunchbox. She would be eating a packed lunch every day at school. That night, I realized that Charlotte wouldn’t get her lunchbox until Thursday, meaning it wouldn’t arrive until after her first day of school… THE HORROR! Guys, I kind of lost it. I scoured the internet for local stores I could buy it from directly… nada. Finally, after staying up in bed for 2 hours stressing, I decided to “let it go.” There’s always tupperware (why was I freaking out so badly??).
Like the good juju that we needed, when I got home from work last night, the lunchbox had arrived!!! I immediately ripped open the box to show Charlie. And, as my heart of hearts, she was just as excited – if not more – for her brand new lunchbox as I was. We talked about what I would pack for her to eat at school, how she’d carry the lunchbox in her backpack and how she could share her food if she wanted (her suggestion, not mine. Note: this am she told me (bright and early) that she would not be sharing her lunch).
My psycho, type A brain really enjoyed packing her lunch last night. I cheered. Not to mention, it was a perfect distraction.
Crackers, cheese, cucumber, red pepper, hummus, pear, and a few raisins! Mmm.
This morning, Charlie woke up with the same excitement as the night before when we were in lunchbox heaven. We smiled, we laughed, we sang (“Getting dressed, getting dressed, getting dressed for my new shooool”) our way through the morning. All the while, my stomach was in painful knots. At one point I thought I might actually throw up. I smiled happily through it.
I knew drop off would be hard. There would be tears. First hers, then mine to follow once I got back to my car. I braced myself.
When we got to school, Charlie marched right on in. She walked with me to hang up her coat. We found the table where she would eat lunch (lunchbox dreams). A little boy in her class showed us the class frog! She told me he was green and started to count his black spots. Everything was so normal and uneventful. I kind of awkwardly said, “well… okay then. I’m going to go to work then…” I got my hug and kiss, turned around and left. Then, I spent the next 4 hours watching the clock until I could get back there.
The teachers raved about her first day. She did SO WELL! She came over and told me that they watched TV (they watched and did a yoga dvd), she did somersaults on the mat, she jumped and popped bubbles. AND… wait for it… had NO ACCIDENTS!! This was another huge stress. C is 2 weeks into potty training and has spent the bulk of that time with no undies or pants on, inside our home. I was so worried that she would have an accident and feel terrible or not feel comfortable telling the teachers that she had to go potty. Anyway, under the advice of the director, I sent C to school in a pull up. I figured that once she was acclimated, we could readdress potty training. But there she goes WOW’ing me again.
NO tears this morning, NO accidents today and all in all a great first day. Charlie’s very excited to go back tomorrow… and mommy’s tummy is finally starting to calm; although, I’m pretty sure I aged myself another 10 years. Mom life.
So proud of my happy girl. She is much tougher than I gave her credit for.
***Just Found this post in in my drafts from 20 days ago! I assume it wasn’t posted because there are no photos. I’ll add a couple and post before she’s 30 months on the 16th!***
It’s never good when I have back-t0-back “monthly update” posts. Clearly, things have been just slightly busy since adding little Henry into our world. I’m going to try to get back into the habit of posting.
Anyway, Charlotte is 29 months and that’s just fricken nuts. She’s honestly the funniest little person ever. She radiates personality and love… and spice. This month has been a bit tough on C, as she’s spent the past two weeks of it in a cast. I’m going to try to write up an individual post on Charlie’s injury, but the short version is that Charlotte fell off of the jungle gym at school and ended up breaking her elbow and needing three pins surgically placed due to the proximity of the break to her growth plate. Translation: Charlie, Mommy & Daddy got to live out a horrifying little nightmare. I am very happy to say that we’re all getting back into the swing of things. C is totally getting used to her blue, uber-sparkly cast and is rarely in too much pain.
We are moving on and life is good!
Size: Charlotte is about 29 lbs (weighed on our scale at home) and honestly, I have no idea how tall she is.
Clothing/Shoes/Diapers: C is wearing 2T still; however, with her bulky cast, sometimes 3T works a little better. Shoes are still 6 and diapers – that she may never give up – are still a size 5. For reference, Henry is in size 4.
Potty Training: Potty training and even hanging out on the potty have taken a backseat these past couple of weeks. In fact, with all the dram of the arm, C may have totally forgotten that the potty exists. Kidding – I think – but seriously, I don’t know that I’ve heard her even mention it in awhile.
Teeth: Charlotte has all of her teeth and over a month later, is STILL talking about how, “the dentist keeps my teeth white.” I think she’s excited to go back.
Sleep: Charlotte is still an awesome sleeper. And thankfully, still napping 2-3 hours per day… sleeping 11-12 hours at night.
Bedtime Routine: Bedtime routine is business as usual. So fun and lovely and sweet. Charlie is truly a sweetie pie. She’s also been on a big, “No, I love YOU!” game kick. It’s pretty amazing. ie:
C: “I love you!”
Me: “I love you, too!”
C: “No, I love YOU!”
Language: Charlotte is seriously funny. Here are some of her silly phrases lately:
Personality: Charlotte is absolutely hilarious. She’s spunky and sweet and just such a goof. She loves to laugh and make people laugh. She’s literally a better sharer than me. She loves the crap out of her brother. She’s my heart.
Activities: Prior to the elbow break, C was signed up for gymnastics, soccer and was in school 4 days a week. She is not currently in any of these activities.
Favorite Foods: Quiche. LOVES quiche. Ketchup. Expensive berries. Mango. Cookies. Yogurt.
Favorite Toys: She loves to play with bags, loves her brother (oh wait… he’s not one of her toys, right? Or is he?), ANYTHING Henry happens to be holding or playing with, her blankey/teddy/bunny, balloons…
Hmmm… I’m sure there are more, but those are the highlights lately.
Favorite Things: Teddy is still #1, followed closely by blankey and then bunny. Also, Daniel Tiger. She LOVES Daniel Tiger. We read the fireworks DT book non-stop and she kisses his picture. She also told me the other day that, a) Daniel Tiger is her favorite friend and b) she wants Daniel Tiger to come to her home.
I’m so behind on my posts, so I figured I’d just share some photos from our holiday break…
Chanukah Pajamukuh – Party at Gabby’s School
The cudliest little love muffin ever. WAY past his bedtime, but no worries. As long as he could cuddle, he was happy.
Charlie Comes to Work with Mommy & Dinner with the Fam
The Eve Before the Eve Party & Brunch on Xmas Eve with My Highschool GF
The First Night of Chanukah with Grampie & Grandma Mimi
Second Day/Night of Chanukah with Milly
SO cute!
Cookie decorating! 4 decorated, only 3 made it… “I wanna try!?”
The best gift ever. She’s blended SO MANY SHAKES.
Charlie & Daddy Date at Discovery World
Tiny GF Gets her Cast Off!!!
She’s just the cutest.
Random Week/Weekend Snapshots
Admiring Momma’s craft project (that fell the next day… damnit!)
Charlie gets a boom box!
Each night we lit the candles, sang a Chanukah song and sang “Happy Birthday” to Chanukah. It’s her favorite song and what else does one sing when candles are lit?
50% gift for Charlie, 50% gift for mommy.
Hours and hours of fun… for mommy
Our New Years Eve Dinner Date
We are on day 4 or 5 of Operation Potty Training, which in our home, means that Charlie has been running around in the nude for 4 or 5 days. It’s funny how a little tiny tush can bring a laugh to most situations.
Honestly, the whole thing has been going wonderfully. As of Day 2, we put training during sleep times on hiatus. AKA: C wears a diaper for naps and bedtime. HOWEVER, all other times, it’s potty. And guess what? NO ACCIDENTS!
Besides the pre-hiatus sleep time accidents, C has only had one pee pee accident on the first day. We stupidly put her in undies and pants and she wet herself. That was 4 or more days ago and she’s literally done all other potties in the toilet since.
She’s quite proud and has hopped around the house saying, “I’m cited” (aka I’m excited) on more than one occasion.
She also loves singing the Daniel Tiger song. This morning she added a line to the end of the song…
If you have to go potty, STOP and go right away. Flush and wash and be on your way… and get a treat!
Here’s another little Charlotte original. I call it, “Makin’ PooPoo.” It should be mentioned that no poopoo’s were made during or surrounding the creation of this number.
And for those of you who have 7 minutes to spend watching my hilarious child delay bedtime and be a goof, here’s a silly video…
(Please note my face at exactly 6 minutes in when I realize that I’ve just been played by a 2.5 year old. Please also excuse my attire… I must have forgotten to wear my fancy PJ’s that day.)
What do you want to do today?
Should we potty train C? It’s probably the last long weekend we have for awhile.
Sure…
Okay, so maybe there was a little more convo, but at max, maybe 10 minutes. We decided to go cold turkey. Farewell, diapers!
Charlotte was reluctant at first, but actually did a really great job yesterday. She went pee in the potty twice (for the first and second time ever) and poop once! She had an accident during her nap and later this evening.
I’m super impressed with her! She did SUCH a great job!
This morning is also going well! She woke up wet at 7:15a, but it seemed like she had just peed. Then, within an hour of being up, she pooped and peed on the potty – both of which she prompted. She was playing with her toys and yelled, “I have to go potty!”
Go, Charlie!
In terms of details, we’ve been giving her either chocolate chips or mini m&m’s after each poo or pee (2-5 each time… we ask how many she wants and she responds with some number in this range).
We’ve also spent most of the time with no bottoms on (no undies/pants/diaper). In fact, her one non-sleep accident happened when she had undies and pants on.
When she’s actually on the potty, we’ve been watching family videos on my phone, reading books, and singing. She tends to want to get off right before she goes potty.
As implied, we also cut out diapers at night and during nap. Hopefully, after a couple days, we’ll be doing less laundry. Fingers crossed!
All in all, she seems to be enjoying the process! She’s happy and excited (and adorable with her tiny butt cheeks hanging out).
Pant-less dance party!
The siblings have been absolutely loving each other lately. They make each other laugh, they hug, they coo. Makes my little heart melt.
Someone once told me that a sibling is the greatest gift you can give your child(ren). It’s true.
This post is way overdue, but check out Henry’s cutie pie 4-month pics, which essentially turned into our family photos. It was a bit windy that day and poor babe had a poop blow out about 15 minutes into the photos. Regardless, I like how they turned out!
Playing House 
